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Why do Some Trees Disappear?

A Voice of Creative Grassroots Innovators and Traditional Knowledge Holders

Contents
31st Shodhyatra A Dim Flame of Gandhian Legacy ...................................5 Teachers as Transformers................................................8 IGNITE Children Innovation Awards - 2013.................................9 Young Inventors Change Makers for the Future......................................17 HUMS Tamil A Farm Worker Innovates.............................................19 Odia Ants Keep Pest Away....................................................20 Dialogue.......................................................................21

The Kingdom of Trees

Why do Some Trees Disappear?
Why do some trees disappear? Sonam asked his teacher. It was a beautiful, sunny morning and the teacher had taken the class to a monastery. His students were not surprised because the teacher would often take them out for a walk in the woods or along the river. This morning, the teacher had given them a giant task. He had asked them to bring their foot rulers and measure the length and breadth of the monastery. It was just a few more metres away, on the top of the mountain. The children ran towards the walls of the building and all of them started measuring from different ends. As each of them proceeded, adding up what they had already measured and subtracting where they thought they had added too much, they began observing something strange. The entire monastery was made of wood. But the wood that had been used for making the walls, the joints, the door frames, doors, and also the engravings on the support joints, was not all the same. They felt the texture of different structures and surfaces with their hands. Sometimes the wood felt strong and sleek as marble, at other places fibres jutted out. It seemed that different parts of the monastery required the wood of different trees. Some of these trees had grown rapidly in various parts of the mountains, valleys and the forests; others had grown slowly without rush. When the trees were cut, whispers went from tree to tree, soon it became a murmur and then a moaning and groaning unheard of, the wind had no choice but to carry it beyond the borders of the little kingdom. More than half of the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan was covered with forest. The people who lived there were sensitive to nature. They did not ignore the moaning of the trees and decided that the forests had to stay. There was probably no other country in the world, which had taken such a strong mission to protect its trees. Still, trees were cut. Sometimes, some of the old trees were chopped into pieces to make way for a road or bridge or a building to house a new ministry or department. Governments want to serve the people with newer and newer policies and programmes which need to be documented on paper. The kingdom sent many of its students to foreign countries for better schools and higher education. Almost all of them came back because they could not forget the beauty of forests and rivers in their little kingdom. But to engage these educated minds in useful work, more policies and programmes had to be made. The problem with children who have been taught to sit within walls is that when these children grow up, they tend to spend more time within walls than outside. And these walls cannot stand on their own; they need hinges, joints, windows, and engravings to distract from boredom and routinised work. The teacher knew the answer to Sonams question, but how could he explain all this. Sonam came running from the monastery. He asked Where do the trees which are used to make these beautiful engravings grow? Can I see them? The teacher did not know how to answer. The last tree used for such engravings had been cut a few years back when a new department for the joyful and shining education building had been set up.

Editor
Anil K Gupta

Editorial Advisors Riya Sinha Chokkakula, Vijaya Sherry Chand Associate Editors
Anamika Dey, Chintan V Shinde

Editorial Support Team

Kirit K Patel, Sadhana Gupta, Jyoti Capoor, Vivek Kumar, Ravikumar, Hema Patel, Ramesh Patel, Vipin Kumar, Rakesh Kumar Maheshwari, Nirmal Sahay, Chetan Patel, Parshottam Patel, Mukesh Chauhan, Hiranmay Mahanta, Marianne Esders, Afran Ahmed

Graphics & Design: Unnikrishnan Nair Cover Design: Marianne Esders, Serkan Bayraktaroglu Illustration: Palash Graphics, Swati Bhartia

Administrative Team
RPS Yadav, R Bhaskaran, Bhoomi Shah, Sumitra Patel, Devshi Desai Editorial Address Honey Bee, C/o Prof Anil K Gupta Indian Institute of Management Vastrapur, Ahmedabad - 380015 Gujarat, India Phone: 91-79-66324921 Fax: 91-79-26307341 Email: honeybee@sristi.org, hbncon@gmail.com www.honeybee.org, www.sristi.org

Published by Riya Sinha Chokkakula on behalf of SRISTI Innovations, AES Boys Hostel Campus, Near University Library, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad-380015 Printed at M/s Bansidhar offset, Ahmedabad

EDITORIAL

Ignited India: Children Uncaged

It is wonderful to read about the various creative ideas of children who are being recognised through the IGNITE 2013 awards. Let me just focus on the five winners who are studying in Class 8 or below. Shibajyoti Choudhury and Rajashree Choudhary of Jabalpur suggest developing a puncturing device at the bottom of a plastic water bottle, similar to the ones used to open a soft-drink can, to prevent re-use of the bottle. Kulsoom Rizavi and Tarun Anand from Uttar Pradesh suggest making a chair alarm that would go off if the sitters posture were wrong. Masirabi Hanif Patel of Jalgaon dreams of a two-wheeler rider wearing a jacket which will be connected to a small airconditioning unit operated by the two-wheelers engineriding in summer will certainly be a cool experience with such a jacket. Md. Usman Hanif Patel, Pavithra, Vidya Ramesh and Nidhi Kumari Gupta, have contributed ideas to the development of a hand cart steering mechanism. The cart puller has to lift the cart in order to turn it. With a steering mechanism attached to one of the rear wheels, the effort needed to turn the cart is minimised. Soumya Ranjan Behera of Jagatshinghpur in Odisha wants an alarm that would indicate the onset of convulsions or seizures. There are award-winning ideas of older children, and what for her turned out to be, significant question: Why do we see more of the large black ants attracted to jaggery (gur) and the small red ants to white sugar? She reflected on her own experiences and realised that her observations matched those of the boy. But she did not know the answer to the question! Inspired by this story, we started collecting tough questions that children in government primary schools had asked their teachers. Do animals feel they have brothers and sisters? I see many flies around, but do not see the same number of corpses of flies. Why? Why is that most birds do not have big ears? Plants make their own food. What will it take for humans to do something similar? Do fish feel the cold? When coconut grows in saline land and water, how does it produce sweet water? If both potatoes and brinjals are kept in the open, brinjals lose their colour faster. Why? Why is the sky above my head and the earth below me? Why is the axis of rotation of the earth angular? Why do humans die? Tough questions indeed! But what is more important is that these questions were asked. Children, very young children, were not afraid to ask these questions. That they were not afraid meant that they did not worry about looking silly or making a mistake. What happens to this lack of fear as they grow older? We make a good job, through our schools, introducing in children the fear of making mistakes. Our system values the right answer so highly, and punishes the wrong answer so severely, that we create a culture of silence. Why would anyone take a risk if there is a strong threat of ridicule and punishment? By encouraging this culture of silence, we are killing creativity. It is a wonder that in spite of the way we educate, so many children manage to remain creative. A second feature of these questions is that they indicate a strong streak of curiosity. Perhaps one can scientifically explain what kind of cold a fish feels. But the fact that a child can relate her ability to feel the cold and wonder whether cold water makes the fish feel similarly indicates more than just an ability to relate similar events. There is a base of curiosity and wondering behind that question. What happens to this curiosity as one grows older? Is it killed by encouraging a focus on certain things that are valued. That is, along with educating into fear, we educate our children out of curiosity. Not that math, science and language are not important, but not valuing other aspects which provoke curiosity, does a disservice to creative expression. How well do our schools in forest areas draw on the curiosity about and the knowledge of plants and
Honey Bee Vol 24 (3) July - September 2013
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Why do we see more of the large black ants attracted to jaggery (gur) and the small red ants to white sugar?
even examples of prototypes that have been built by children, that are presented in this issue. We hope you enjoy reading about them. Inspiring as these examples are, they are from a small, miniscule fraction that has overcome our societys attempts to discourage creativity and to make children conform to an image of what they should do and become as they grow up. Such ideas have emerged in the absence of a supportive ecosystem. They have thrived in spite of the barriers posed by the conformist system of education that we have created for ourselves. If our educational system was to encourage creativity and create an ecosystem that embraces experimentation, we would see a much larger pool of ideas for solving societal problems eventually leading to a better human life. That is why it is important to learn from these children and consider how formal education, which is today all pervasive can be reformed. Let me begin with a story narrated by a primary school teacher. Many years ago, a class one student asked her a simple, but

herbs that children possess? Unfortunately, that kind of curiosity is not valorised. The curriculum does not permit it. In addition, the message given to the child about a conflict between utility and expressiveness is flawedthe valued subjects are those which have a lot of utility. You have to attend secondary school and college to then get a good job. Expressiveness? That is not going to help you get into higher education. Maybe we can tolerate it in some schools, but really it is not part of our focus. Thus, runs the logic. But discouraging expressiveness means killing creativity. It is not that our policies do not realise the importance of allround development. The Right to Education Act does recognise the importance of non-cognitive competenciesthat is, nonnumeracy and non-literacy aspects that one needs to acquire. But in practice, the curriculum, societal expectations, and teachers priorities are structured to discourage expressiveness. So, you may still have music and dance in your school, but surely those are not going to help you get jobs. Why bother? In short, educating children into fear of being wrong, lack of curiosity and disregard for expression hinder the development of what every child is born withcreativity. Creativity is something natural; killing it is akin to depriving Take home library in a box: An idea that must move There are a lot of people who may have studied in the village schools and reached a better station in life. If each one of them contributes one library or one tablet, the learning environment can really be transformed. How many primary schools have a library, which is easily accessible to the children? Even the private schools may ration the number of books to one or two that are issued to students per week. A government primary school in Kalol has created a new model of a take home library for children. Pritiben and Yogeshbhai conceived this idea and undertook a campaign called Books Give Me Wings. They found donors, like IFFCO and some other individuals for funding. The initiative had four parts: 1. Vanchan Parab: Children of classes 3 to 5 can sit around a banyan tree and read books relevant to their age. 2. Samaydan Vanchan Project: A parent, Alpa Kothari, agreed to donate two hours every day for reading to children and helping them develop reading abilities. 3. Khushi Reading Garden: A corner of the school was converted into an open library. The walls were painted, a hexagonal raised platform built and four kota-stone benches put up. Plastic chairs and books were bought through the money collected from public donations. 4. My little library, at my home: Fifty tin boxes were bought and a set of 20 to 25 books (of interest to children, like
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ourselves of a resource for the future. Especially an uncertain and unsettled future that calls for an abundance of this particular resource in order to solve our most pressing socioeconomic problems, whether these are related to depleting natural resources, the need for greater efficiencies in delivery of services to a growing population, or the demands made by an increasingly networked and decentralised society. Let us learn from the IGNITE children, children who have dared to guess and take a chance. Maybe the alarm to correct your posture may not work. It does not matter. That Rizavi and Anand have dared to dream about this idea is a good enough start. That four children, with their ideas, can contribute to making the life of a hand-cart puller a little easier, is for us, an indication of their curiosity about the society around us and a desire to do make it better. As we salute these children, let us also accept that our formal education system can do much more to allow the creative potential that exists in every child to blossom unhampered, free of the millstones we have hung around the necks of our children. Prof Vijaya Sherry Chand
Guest Editor

___________________________
Vijaya Sherry Chand, Professor, IIM Ahmedabad and Project Director, Teachers as Transformers- an IIMA project in partnership with SRISTI. www.teachersastransformers.com

childrens stories, tales of expeditions, biographies) was placed. The set also contains books that are of interest to the elders at home. Children were given a library to take home for a month. Testing of the reading abilities of the children was done by asking the children to read during school hours. Children get opportunity to read at least 120 books in a year and their families too can access the library. When the king of Gondal tried to popularize libraries 100 years ago he would not have imagined that there will be a school in 2013 which will provide take home library to every child. It is possible that such an educational innovation takes many more decades before every school in 6.5 lakh villages of the country will have similar take home library for every student. A generation which will grow reading books and reflecting on ideas will be a generation of thinkers, doers and imbued with the spirit of sharing. We hope at least some of the readers would take this step of donating at least one small box with 15 books to any school they want. There is no better gift.
Priti Rupchand Gandhi and Yogesh Jagadishchandra Acharya, Kalol Primary School No. 9, Near Ice Factory, Kalol, Block: Kalol, District: Gandhinagar (kalolprimaryschoolno9@gmail.com)

Read more such stories on page 8

A Dialogue on Peoples Creativity, Experimentation & Innovation

SHODHYATRA

A Dim Flame of Gandhian Legacy

31st Shodhyatra Wardha, Maharashtra
Starting from the Gandhi Ashram, Wardha, the shodhyatris walked through different villages to see the ripples of various reconstruction activities that might have been taken up in the hinterland of the ashram. As always, there were many moments of hope, but the yatris also had sights of sadness. After all, this district witnessed many cases of farmers suicides because of crop failure. It also faced a huge problem of water scarcity. The yatris absorbed the spirit of many developmental organisations, which were trying hard to rebuild the social fabric that had become weakened over the last few decades. Several innovations were shared on the way to kindle curiosity of the villages, read on...

Gandhi moved to Sevagram in 1936 to create a new crucible of concerted devotion to attain freedom from the colonial rule*. This ashram symbolises not only his principles of frugality in everyday life but also his values about the way a dominated culture deals with power of the ruling elite. When the British government wanted to install a telephone line in the ashram to communicate with Gandhi, he refused at the first instance. After a lot of persuasion, he agreed with the condition that the phone would be one way, i.e., he could receive a call but he would not be able to make one. He had nobody to call. If somebody wanted to communicate with him, she or he could write him a postcard or visit him. There was no other way that he wanted it to happen. In this age of super connectivity when all of us seem to be accessible to each other all the time, he realised the value of frugality even in communication. Perhaps, the depth and density of communication is inversely correlated with frequency. Yet, he was so successful in delivering his messages about freedom struggle to every nook and corner of the country. The design of the Sevagram, shaped by Gandhis biases, offers so many lessons not only for architects but also for planners
*

and development thinkers. Some might be valid in the current times and some might need revisit. He was quite eloquent about his beliefs even if some of these appeared disagreeable to others. The shodhyatris went through the ashram to absorb its serenity and elements of the embedded history of our freedom struggle. His own cottage was designed by Meeraben. Her simple art work of shelves in the mud wall or the beams or the veranda showed the ease with which she blended her European elegance with Indian simplicity. Since Badshah Khan lived there for a while, the entrance had a cleavage in the portico so designed that he didnt have to bend his head every time he entered. Attention to small details was a unique trait of Gandhi. He had a separate cottage for Kasturba where women of the ashram could sit during afternoons spinning charkha and/ or discussing various matters. Most of the visiting leaders, after getting down from the railway station, would walk the rest of the way to the ashram, as it was a kutcha road and there were not many means of local transportation. But

http://wardha.nic.in/htmldocs/sevagram.asp

Honey Bee Vol 24 (3) July - September 2013

Jamnalal Bajaj created an interesting solution to this problem, viz., the OXFord, an old ford car driven by oxen from Wardha to Sevagram Ashram. OXFord often carried Nehru, Rajagopalachari and Patel for consultations with Gandhi. One could not join Gandhi just like that. He had stipulated in 1941, Permission to offer satyagraha will not hereafter be granted to newcomers who are able to spin just ordinarily and have worn khaddar recently. They will have to go to villages and do constructive work and those who work for a fixed period and produce details of work done in the villages week by week will be allowed to offer satyagraha. One had to prove that one had embarked upon the path of social engagement and reconstruction to qualify to be satyagrahi. A workshop was held on the first day of the shodhyatra at Sevagram with various local voluntary organisations so that the plans for the follow up after the shodhyatra could be discussed in the beginning. We met a few pioneering social entrepreneurs and conservers of agro-biodiversity. Ramesh Shakarkar, for instance, is an extraordinary farmer dedicated to the conservation and distribution of seeds of over two hundred varieties of crops, vegetables and flowers. The only condition he put on the recipients of these varieties was that, at the time of harvest, they should return twice the quantity of seed that they had taken. Another conserver, Vivek Bharade, had collected more than fifty four varieties of cereals, pulses and oil seeds. Such champions of agro-biodiversity conservation and dissemination must be honoured so that
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they can inspire masses. SRISTI honoured them and requested them to continue this noble and generous tradition. A small exhibition was organised to show various innovative prototypes of farm machinery. Vibha explained the way a network of two dozen NGOs in Wardha was trying to spread sustainable alternatives in various domains. Maltitai looked after the dairy activities. She took care of the manger very affectionately. All the shodhyatris were impressed to see how she could call any calf or cow by name and get response from them. We heard an interesting anecdote about an acquaintance of Gandhi from South Africa who had come to visit him one day. At the time, there was no exclusive guesthouse in

Is marriage between traditional knowledge and modern science possible?

Sevagram. When the guest told Gandhi about this inadequacy, Gandhi asked him to build one. And accordingly, a guesthouse with mud walls and tiled roof was built. In the evening, the shodhyatris went to a nearby village and made a presentation about some of the innovations collected by the Honey Bee Network. Some of the prototypes were also showcased. The local community liked the cycle sprayer developed by Mansukhbhai Jagani very much. One lady farmer wanted to buy it on the spot. Such an enthusiastic response on the very first day boosted the morale of the yatris. The next day, the yatris visited the Lok Niketan Tantrik Vidyalaya in Pipri. This polytechnic has developed several innovative devices for local use. The faculty and students showed keen interest in the BulletSanti (a multipurpose farming machine) presented by the yatris. Given the shortage of bullocks, a multipurpose device which is both affordable

parts was rare, the time taken for making the prototype was more than what was normally required. Large parts of the district were dry and some of the canals built many years before were never used. We met an elderly inmate, Nirmalaben at the Pavnar ashram set up by Vinoba Bhave. The architect of Bhoodan Andolan, Vinoba had set up ashrams and self-reliant farms in different parts of the country on land donated by people for his cause. Nirmalaben shared both her agony of not having many young sarvodaya workers and also her hope that shodhyatris would hopefully carry the unfinished agenda of social development triggered by Gandhiji and Vinobaji. While passing through long stretches of dryland, the shodhyatris realised that rainwater harvesting had been grossly neglected in this region. The fact that two ponds that we came across during the walk had sufficient water even in the month of May proved that it was possible to conserve water and store it. And yet, there was no project running even under MGNREGA on creating farm ponds, large tanks or other water storage structures. In the backdrop of the large-scale farmer suicides, due to inability to pay back loans borrowed for growing cotton crops, neglect of this kind became even more difficult to understand. The water tank based rotor sprinkler system designed by Dharamvir from Ambala, Haryana, was a great hit in every village. This device was designed to provide life-saving irrigation. The scourge of Vidarbha is frequent drought and failure of rains at critical stages of the cropping year. Transporting water in a tank and sprinkling it over the crop can actually be the difference between life and death for a farmer. This innovation could not have taken place without the provocation of Former President of India, Smt. Pratibha Patil. She not only posed the challenge but also intimately got involved in the design of the solution. After many variations, she liked this version and had it tested in the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Her intuitive understanding was vindicated by the response of the farmers in different villages. There is a lot more that we learned in this shodhyatra, for which readers will have to wait for the next issue. Till then, please reflect on the fact that despite Gandhijis life long struggle to bring a reorientation in our policies and programmes, we continue to ignore his advice on frugality, self-reliance and social solidarity.
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Nirmalaben shared both her agony of not having many young sarvodaya workers and also her hope that shodhyatris would hopefully carry the unfinished agenda of social development triggered by Gandhiji and Vinobaji.
and fuel efficient, made a lot of sense. They immediately requested SRISTI to arrange to send an innovator who could fabricate a similar device locally so that they could learn and also diffuse. Accordingly, after the shodhyatra, the innovator Mansukhbhai Jagani spent two weeks in Wardha to develop the device. Because the availability of various

Teachers as Transformers
The educational innovations bank
How do some teachers in government elementary schools achieve their educational goals in spite of facing the same constraints as thousands of other teachers? The answer lies in their ability to innovate and find solutions to their immediate problems. These teachers depend largely on their creativity and resourcefulness to transform the socioeconomic constraints to schooling. It is important to identify such teachers, document and validate their work, and make it available to other teachers, administrators and policymakers to bring about educational reforms in the public system. The Educational Innovations Bank has been designed as a clearing house for such innovations in the existing pedagogies, systems and institutions. It seeks to create a grassroots innovation database that can be used by teachers, teacher trainers, administrators and policy makers. Tasleema created melodies for all the poems of the four subjects of Gujarati, Hindi, Sanskrit and English of Classes 6 to 8, sung the songs along with her students and recorded them. Many of the songs have been uploaded on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/taslimasheikh2012 Given the difficulties in access to the internet, these songs will now be put in DVD format by the Educational Innovations Bank for other teachers and children. Feedback from other teachers who have used the songs is a monitoring tool for the teacher. Schools in the surrounding areas have picked up the recordings of the poems and use them in their classes.
Tasleema Hussain Sheikh, Shree Olvan Primary School, Una, Junagadh, 362 510 (taslima.sheikh@yahoo.in)

One handful of pulses

Dilipbhai and his colleagues found that learning and attendance levels among girls were really low and in spite of trying hard, they were not getting the expected results. During a Kishori Melo (fair for girls) organised by the government, a health check-up revealed very low haemoglobin levels. Perhaps this was the reason for the problems. The teachers decided to improve the health status of the girls. They discussed the reports with a few doctors, who advised supplemental nutrition. The teachers thought that here was an opportunity to supplement the mid-day meal scheme. The doctors recommended pulses as a supplement, and the
Contd... on page 20

Making teachers sing

Many of the poems in English, Gujarati, Hindi and Sanskrit textbooks of Classes 6 to 8 are best taught through songs with fun, so that learning is more enjoyable. But teachers do not know how to convert the poems into songs. Often male teachers also hesitate to sing. www.teachersastransformers.org
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Will you stand by the IPRs of the peasants?

YOUNG INVENTORS

Change Makers for the Future

Sixteen year old finds a way to speed up plastic decomposition The problem of finding a way to degrade plastic waste is something many experienced researchers have been trying to tackle for long. To the surprise of many, in 2008, a 16year-old Canadian boy, Daniel Burd, came very close to finding a solution. Daniel was told that plastic takes about Daniel Burd, 16 years, Canada thousands of years to decompose. However, he took note of the fact that at the end of those many years, the plastic did decompose eventually. He thought what if somehow these organisms that decompose plastic were bred to do it faster? That question led to a series of experiments. A simple technique of immersing ground plastic in a yeast solution that encourages microbial growth, and then isolating the most productive colonies started yielding results. The initial tests were encouraging so he kept choosing the most effective strains and interbred them. With several modifications of temperature and conditions lasting for weeks, finally he was able to achieve 43% degradation in six weeks. Most methods of degrading plastic use chemical processes. With Daniel Burds organic method, environmentalists can take a sigh of relief. With over 500 billion plastic bags manufactured every day and a plastic dump yard that grows in size each day, a low cost nontoxic method is the most viable solution to the plastic waste problem.
Link: http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/research-innovations/blogs/ boy-discovers-microbe-that-eats-plastic#

This compilation of innovations by children from around the world is an attempt to put the IGNITE competition organized by NIF in a global context (nifindia.org/ignite). Children all around sense, struggle and succeed sometimes in transcending the problems rather than adapting to them. -Ed.

using banana peels. She spent two years developing the material until it finally paid off.
Links: http:// blogs.scientificamerican.com/ at-scientific-american/ 2013/06/27/science-inaction-winner-for-2013elif-bilgin/ http://inhabitat.com/ sixteen-year-old-studentfrom-turkey-turnsbanana-peels-intobioplastic/

Elif Bilgin, 16 years, Turkey

Solar Power by harnessing the Fibonacci Sequence Aidan Dwyer created an energy efficient solar tree which can generate about 20-50% more energy than the conventional array of photovoltaic cells. He studied trees around the woods where he used to play and observed that these branched out in a specific pattern. The sole purpose of this pattern to branch out was to harness sunlight most efficiently. He showcased that by using a specific formula to distribute solar cells in a particular pattern, an increase in energy generation can be achieved. He used the Fibonacci sequence, which he was led to as he studied the different patterns of branching. The Fibonacci sequence is a number series starting from zero or one with each

Banana peels to bioplastic Elif Bilgin, a 16-year-old Turkish girl, discovered that the peels of banana contained enough starch and cellulose to be used as an insulating material. She developed a process which turned the peels into a non-decaying bioplastic material. This, she hopes, could reduce the dependence on plastic based insulation. Elif read that cellulose and starch were being used with mango skins in the bioplastic industry. This triggered the thought about
Aidan Dwyer, 13 years, USA
Honey Bee Vol 24 (3) July - September 2013
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subsequent number being the sum of the previous two numbers. It turned out that these patterns and sequences appear in nature repeatedly. His study on branches led him to test this. He built a small solar array using the Fibonacci formula. He then compared the energy output with identical cells set in a row. The Fibonacci tree design performed better than the flat-panel model. The tree design made 20% more electricity and collected 2 1/2 more hours of sunlight during the day. But the most interesting results were in December, when the Sun was at its lowest point in the sky. The tree design made 50% more electricity, and the collection time of sunlight was up to 50% longer!
Link: http://inhabitat.com/13-year-old-makes-solar-powerbreakthrough-by-harnessing-the-fibonacci-sequence/

seawater. There is an interlocking fastener system in the sandbag that keeps the sandbag in place while also eliminating any gaps. His other two inventions include a case that keeps golf balls at a certain temperature so that they dont lose their bounce and retractable training wheels for people learning how to ride a bicycle. Peyton is interested in science mostly for understanding his outer world and trying to make it a better place. He is currently trying out the idea of immunisation of trees against citrus canker- a disease which causes early fruiting of trees. Another exciting and humane idea he is working on is trying to blend underwater speaker technology with echolocation (human ability to using echo of objects in an environment to locate them) and analgorithm to guide trapped whales.
Link: http://blog.ted.com/2014/01/13/this-scientist-has-threepatents-pending-he-also-happens-to-be-12/

The germ defeater Travis Jahn, a third grader from Germany, was well aware of the dangers of catching flu or other infectious germs when playing outside. But that was still not motivating enough for him (or any other kids) to wash hands when he came home or before eating. Travis thought why not make the activity of washing hands fun. He came up with an ingenious idea of a Germ Defeater. Travis Jahn, 9 years, It uses two different soaps to wash Germany hands. These two different soaps are of two different colours and when used together they turn into a third colour, thus making the boring process of hand wash fun and interesting. L ink: http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/news/local/ invention-earns-third-grader-a-california-trip-t-1/nNHX3/ A 12 year old wants to fix the world Peyton Robertson, 12, from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is a now a well-known young inventor in the US. He has three patents pending on his name. One of his major inventions is a sandbag to tackle flooding. This bag is light weight and easy to transport when dry but becomes a dense solution after coming in contact with water. The sandbag contains salt to make it heavier than the
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Plastic waste to biofuel Plastic consumption in Egypt is estimated to be around one million tons per year, which also equals to the amount of plastic waste that the country generates. The solution to this problem came in the form of a catalyst, an idea, from sixteen year old Azza Abdel Hamid Faiad, to convert Egypt s growing plastic waste into bio-fuel worth $78 million. This was an idea that could literally change the countrys economic position.

Azza Abdel Hamid Faiad, 16 years, Egypt

Azzas idea is, to break down the plastic polymers found in drinking bottles and general waste and turn them into biofuel feedstock (The bulk raw material that is generally used for producing biofuel). Azzas idea may not be novel, however, she has found a highyield catalyst called aluminosilicate that digests plastic waste while producing gases like methane, propane and ethane, which can then be converted into ethanol. Speaking on her breakthrough she said, This technology could provide an economically efficient method for production of hydrocarbon fuel including 40,000 tons per year of cracked naptha and 138,000 tons of hydrocarbon gasses the equivalent of $78 million in biofuel.
Link: http://inhabitat.com/16-year-old-egyptian-scientist-finds-wayto-turn-plastic-waste-into-78-million-of-biofuel/

When did you last meet an innovator ?

Num Vali Velanmai

(Tamil Version of Honey Bee) Mr P Vivekanandan vivekseva@dataone.in

A Farm Worker Innovates

P. Mallika (34) is an agricultural labourer in Pallapatti village, Dindigul District. Mallika has been working in a private nursery garden for the past eight years which sells air layered cuttings and seedlings of Moringa. The farm is maintained by Alagarsamy, a farmer in the same village. He had received SRISTI Samman for developing a new variety of Moringa. Mallika does not have any f o r m a l education. Her husband is a shepherd and maintains a herd of twelve sheep. The couple has two girls. 24301 Double layering method Mallika has developed a double air layering technique in a single branch or stalk of Moringa. Air layering is a technique for ornamental/horticultural crops to promote vegetative propagation. Usually in a branch or stalk of a tree (with pencil thickness) air layers are made in a single place. In one tree about 10-12 air layers can be made at a time. Compared with the annual Moringa variety developed by the Agricultural University at Dindigul, the rooting of the air layer seedling takes more than one year. Farmers prefer propagation of Moringa through air layered cuttings rather than seed propagation. Mallika wondered if two layers could be made in a single elongated branch or stalk. About two years ago, she started experimenting without the knowledge of the nurserys owner. At the end of one month, both the layers had good roots. She removed the two layers and planted them in separate polythene bags. She was appreciated by the owner for her endeavour and other women workers started following her technique.

Humss s sss

The rooting is hastened by applying a widely used organic liquid made by mixing panchagavya, gunapajala and waste papaya fruits, to thesphagnum moss after scrapping the stem.
P. Mallika Nilakottai Taluka, Dindigul District

Interesting fact Air-layering has been in use in China for the last 4000 years. Stems are enclosed in a moist compost and moss. After some days, roots develop from the cut areas. Once these roots are well developed, the new plant is severed from the roots and potted separately. In Ireland, after many years of intermittent research, a new product, Comet by Rootgrow Ltd. has been developed, to facilitate the process of air-layering (online at: http:// gardens.co.nz/Articles.cfm?NLID=124).

Honey Bee Vol 24 (3) July - September 2013

19

Ama Akha Pakha

(Odia version of Honey Bee) Dr Balaram Sahu Editor. balaram_sahu@hotmail.com

Humss s ss
Nilamani Bisi Badhigaon, Padmapur, District-Bargarh S e m i c a r p u s anacardium is reported for treating warts. The antitumour activity has been studied (Chitnis et al., 1980. Indian Journal of Experimental Biology, 18(1): 6-8). Bhalia is also used for treating wounded cattle. Also see Honey Bee, 14(4) & 15 (1): 30, 2003.
Contd... from page 8

Ants Keep Pest Away

24302 Use of natural pesticide for control of pests in betel vines Betel (Piper betel L.) is cultivated widely in coastal districts of Odisha. In betel cultivation, farmers face problems of a chewing pest, locally known as dhala poka, which feeds upon green betel leaves. Sthitapragyan Madhi, a student of class 10 in the Shreekrushna Academy of Jagatsinghpur, found a way of dealing with this problem. He comes from a farming family Sthitapragyan observed that ants in betel vine eat the pests. The ants first surround the pest, kill them and take them away as food. He uses molasses to attract the ants. This practice has now become very popular for controlling these pests.
Sthitapragyan Madhi Shreekrushna Academy, Jagatsinghpur, District, Scout-Pradeepta Pala Interesting facts: Ediberto Cruz, from Chile has found a new way to keep ants from biting him while working in the field. He, places a tortilla in an ant nest. The ants gather around the tortilla instead of stinging him. (Bentley J.W., 2006. Agriculture and Human Values, 23(4): 451-462). Ants are known predators of pests (Inouye D.W. and Taylor Jr. O.R., 1979. Ecological Society of America, 60 (1): 1-7) and thus used as a natural pest control in Honduras as well (Bentley J.W., Rodriguez, G. and Gonzalez, A., 1994. Agriculture and Human Values, 11 (2-3): 178-182). Some farmers use rotting mangoes instead of sugar, thus reducing cost (Bentley J.W., 2000. In Stoll G., Ed. Natural Crop Protection in the Tropics: Letting Information Come to Life, 281-289). Also see Honey Bee, 6(2):3-5, 1995.

teachers accepted the idea. They asked each girl to bring one handful of pulses from her home, and all the teachers of the school also put in some from their own homes. The mid-day meal cook sprouted the pulses and mixed it with lime, onion, green chilli and salt. This was then given regularly to all the girls. The teachers have noted an improvement in attendance and they feel that the girls are more enthusiastic and healthy. They are now waiting for a re-testing of haemoglobin levels to confirm their observations. A major spin-off has been the increased awareness about health among girls and their parents. Now many girls have started bringing sprouted pulses and other such food in their lunch boxes as well. Enthused by the positive results that they have obtained, the teachers want to mobilise resources to make it a formal school activity which is part of the mid-day meals, so that girls do not have to bring pulses from their homes. They are in discussion with an NGO, which is ready to provide support.
Dilipbhai C Bhalgamiya, K J Jodhani and R D Jivani, Nagar Primary School No:1, Girls School, Hanuman Gate, Botad, Bhavnagar 364 710 (dcbhalgamiya1880@gmail.com)

24303 Wild seeds against wart in cattle Warts appear as small eruptions over the skin of cattle. There can be several reasons for the origin of these warts. Sometimes, they are of viral origin. To treat such warts, Nilamani Bisi uses the seeds of a plant locally called as bhalia (Semicarpus anacardium L.f.). He grinds them into a powder, mixes with it molasses and feeds the cattle for 21 days. Every day, he uses around three to four dried seeds for this purpose.
20

Is marriage between traditional knowledge and modern science possible?

DIALOGUE

Frugal engineering

Chlo Lecomte chloe.lecomte@grenoble-inp.fr

education about educational initiatives and with MSME secretary about livelihood initiative. But we can do a lot more. -Ed.)

Im a third year PhD student working on frugal engineering and design practices for the BOP at the GSCOP laboratory, in Grenoble (France). My PhD project is on product design for the low-income population, especially, on the very first phases of the requirements definition. As I come from a Human and Cognitive sciences background, the goal is to gather issues from sociology, mechanical engineering and economics. I recently had the honour to receive a grant to come to India for three months, until the end of December. I am now living in Bangalore. I have read a lot of your articles on grassroots innovations and it would be with great pleasure that I will come to Ahmedabad.
(Chlo, I was recently at ECE engineering university in Paris. We discussed about launching techpedia.in in France and there is a good chance that it may happen. You are welcome to visit us so that you can meet colleagues here. -Ed.)

Innovation Technological Parks in Peru

(Many thanks for your mail and I hope that sooner or later, we will have a Honey Bee Newsletter in Malay and other languages. Similarly, we also hope that the HBN database will be available to people in Malaysia in all the three languages. Sustain your interest in creativity of children. -Ed.)

Augusto Mellado amellado@infonegocio.net.pe I am Professor Augusto Mellado; in charge of the Special Program on Technological Enterprises at the Facultad de Ingeniera of San Martin de Porres University in Lima Per. The aim of this small program is to integrate Innovation Industrial Parks in Peru. Since more than ten years ago, Peruvian Government, through Governmental institutions such as Indecopi and CONCYTEC, has been attempting to identify innovators and inventors by opening yearly contests between universities, enterprises, high school students and the population in general. However, once the contest finishes, all this effort is lost since there is not any policy to give the winners and the participants an opportunity to receive support to continue their work. Therefore, I am proposing the organisation of Innovation Technological Parks in Per in such a way that these young innovators, inventors and researchers may have the opportunity to receive appropriate support.
(It was great meeting you and we will support your efforts in this extremely important mission. -Ed.)

Setting up a film report

Juliette Lacharnay jlacharnay@france24.com

I work for the France 24 TV news channel based in Paris and more specifically for the sustainable 12 minute programme Down to Earth (in English) / Elment Terre (in French). We work in partnership with the African Development Bank. I have heard about the Honey Bee Network initiative and would be interested to report on it. Ill be interested to discuss to know if you would be willing to help us to set up the filming and to know more about your ongoing projects and the latest innovations you have highlighted.
(Sure, please give some more information about your programme. Also visit our websites sristi.org, nifindia.org, anilg.sristi.org, techpedia.in? -Ed.)

How can we assist the local people?

To what extent am I contributing?

Shrinkhla Ghildiyal shrinkhlaghildiyal@gmail.com

Sarah Ali sarah_binte@yahoo.co.in Your lecture today regarding biodiversity conservation was very inspiring. The highlight being the role of masses at the grass-root level was something that made me question as to what extent amI contributing being an environment research fellow at NBRI? I recently joined NBRI and Im working on the role of plant hormones in combating heavy metal stress in crop plants (rice). I am eager to work wherein my study will not only be fundamental but will prove to be a tool in providing sustainable development in the society.
(Thanks Sarah for reaching out and asking a basic question about how to blend excellence with relevance. I think we can blend both without failing in our duty to be accountable to ourselves, profession and society at large.
21

I listened to your recent talk at BARC. It was really heartwarming to know that local problems can be addressed in this way. I am from Uttarakhand and concerned about the local peoples situations after the natural disaster. Although earlier, the situation was not pleasant either - almost no employment opportunity, a lot of difficulties even for daily life, poor connectivity & many more - tourism was a major source of income for many people, but now that wouldnt be there any longer. I want to know, have you & anybody from your network been there? How can we assist the local people? Maybe if you ask something specific about the state; Ill try to gather in & things may progress well.
(I was in Uttarakhand on 16th and had a meeting with VCs and secretary higher

Warm greetings from Malaysia

Dr Shariha Khalid sk@scopegroupasia.com

I just came across your article in SSRI. Wanted to write to say hello and send you warm greetings from Malaysia. Many exciting and interesting things are happening here and I have not forgotten your wish to engage more with school children and tap their creativity and innovation. Best wishes from our team here especially Christoffer and me. Take care!

Honey Bee Vol 24 (3) July - September 2013

If you are working on triggering hormones which help in overcoming heavy metal stress in rice say in alkaline or sodic soils, then one can try to do the following: A. Local varieties which already have higher ability to beat stress could be taken as building block. B. identify those practices which farmers may have developed to trigger stress adjustment capabilities not knowing that they are actually triggering hormones. To illustrate from a different context, farmers made sheep to graze chickpea fields to promote lateral branching and overcome apical dominance. ICRISAT did studies to prove it. Likewise, in Karnataka farmers use extract of ragi plumule on buds of cotton to prevent falling of premature balls. Apparently the plumule has high content of IAA. I will be happy to hear from you about various other approaches that might come to your mind. But please keep asking such questions, it is in these questions that our hope lies. All the best and sustain these dilemmas. -Ed.)

costing around Rs. 3700. I can start its mass production immediately but I need some help for marketing or to reach the end users. I am also trying to reduce its cost. I have shown the machine to broom makers and the feedback is a boost. They want to use it. Now I am trying to approach banks for some loan for the initial capital funding to enter into production. Im hoping to start it soon. Im sending you the link of video and images. h tt p : / / w w w.y o u t u b e . c o m / watch?v=JtZvgY2f-vw
(Thanks Raghunath. What an inspired pursuit of a mission, what started as a small step in the SRISTI summer school on elimination of child labour, could become a reality so soon! We are proud of it and as soon as you get some orders, we will give you a loan for expanding the manufacture of the machines. We are also willing to give a guarantee if you borrow from a bank so that the bank does not hesitate in supporting you. This is a concrete step in giving children a small part of their sky, not a broom in their hand. -Ed.)

A Eureka Moment

Raghunath Lohar raghunathlohar@gmail.com

many products and have sold the rights around the world. I have been an inventor since I was 16 years old. I have been teaching other people from ages of 11 years upwards to create ideas from minimal materials. I am a qualified engineer with 12 years in educating people with simple ideas in the many ways to exploit their invention, making sure that they dont give it away! In the UK this is called Product Design, I teach up to university level, but some of the best ideas come from young people aged 11 years. Any interaction with any student is in strict confidence for the protection of their idea. I teach people the process of how to come up with and idea - what to do with the idea - how to progress an idea from inside your head and into a prototype how to put that idea into production and sell it to the public. I have visited India but have never thought about the exciting opportunities present in this country.
(You have to engage with the Honey Bee Network. See the IGNITE page at nifindia.org for ideas of children that we reward every year and try to convert into prototypes and products. Mentoring of experts like you would be a bonus for our children. Have you seen our websites sristi.org nifindia.org anilg.sristi.org techpedia.in/award techpedia.in? Please engage and join the Honey Bee Network. -Ed.)

It was really a eureka moment. The final testing of the Bamboo Splinting Machine was a great success. I have attached a 0.5 HP motor and the machine is extremely efficient now. It took just one minute to splint a broom with great fineness. Now it is not just a prototype, it is a complete market-ready product

I teach to create ideas

Paul Macartney learn2invent@btinternet.com, learn2invent.com

I am a retired Product Design teacher in the UK. I have designed and prototyped

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Honey Bee Regional Newsletters

Aama Akha Pakha (Odia) Dr Balaram Sahu Keshari Enclave, B- Block, Flat No-401 Nayapalli, Bhubaneswar-12 Odisha balaram.sahu@gmail.com Hittalagida (Kannada) Dr T N Prakash Department of Agricultural Economics University of Agricultural Science, GKVK, Bangalore - 560065 Karnataka. prakashtnk@yahoo.com Ini Karshakan Samsarikkatte (Malayalam) Fr Hubby Mathew & Mr T J James Peermade Development Society, Peermade, Idukki - 685531, Kerala hmathew@gmail.com Loksarvani (Gujarati) and Sujh-Bujh Aas Paas ki (Hindi) SRISTI, P O Box No.15050 Ambawadi Ahmedabad - 380015 Gujarat loksarvani@sristi.org Num Vali Velanmai (Tamil) Mr P Vivekanandan 45, T P M Nagar,Virattipathu, Madurai - 625010 Tamil Nadu vivekseva@dataone.in Palle Srujana (Telugu) Brig Pogula Ganesham VSM (Retd) C/o Ms. Aruna Ganesham, 102, Vayupuri, Sainikpuri Post Secunderabad-500 094 Andhra Pradesh ganeshpogula@hotmail.com

22

A Dialogue on Peoples Creativity, Experimentation & Innovation

Before
Modification that eliminates the need for a child labour on the other end of sugarcane juice machine

After

SRISTI Summer School for Elimination of Child Labour through Technological Innovations

Prototype of broom making machine by Raghunath Lohar, Summer School

Intriguing colours in Wardha

IGNITE
KIDS IMAGINE AND INNOVATE
The National Innovation Foundation India (NIF) invites entries from students (up to class 12 or equivalent) and also children out of school for IGNITE the national competition for student's original technological ideas and innovations. Complete details of the idea/innovation along with age, class school name, home address and contact number should be sent before August 31, 2014, to ignite14@nifindia.org OR submitted online at http://ignitecomp.nif.org.in OR mailed at the following address: National Innovation Foundation, Satellite Complex, Premchand Nagar Road, Jodhpur Tekra, Satellite, Ahmedabad 380 015, Gujarat. Read more at http://www.nif.org.in./ignite_announcement.php Thirty eight students from twenty five districts of seventeen states and union territories will be awarded for their ideas and innovations on February 19, 2014 at IIM Ahmedabad. There will also be an exhibition of all award-winning ideas at the venue. In addition to the main awards, there are two awards in the 'Kite Flying Idea Awards' category to recognise those ideas, which may not appear to be feasible today but could become a reality in the future with advancement in science and technology. This year the IGNITE team received 20836 submissions of students from 301 districts of 33 states and union territories of the country.